Update--Videos finally came.

Parents Forum
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<p>This is the strangest case of customer relations I've read about. If the person who monitors these boards spent as much time dealing with customers complaints as he does sending emails ( at least 3, it seems), blaineko would have gotten his videos much earlier, and both he and Carolyn would not have received insulting emails. Talk about negative publicity!</p>

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<p>Wow, so apparently it really is them. I'm appalled that they are blaming the customer and others for their own shortcomings.</p>

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<p>And to think, this would have been a really great opportunity for therm to step up publically, satisfy the order and demonstrate great customer service - maybe throw in an extra video or two of the OPs choice for her patience(it's what way in which you handle the bad siutations/unhappy customers that separates good service from great service)......the OP would have been pleased and CCV would have been able to get a little good promotion here on CC. </p>

<p>It's too bad when companies don't recognize an opportunity like this!</p>

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<p>Another email message from them this morning sent via Roger Dooley, the administrator of this board. </p>

<p>If you are reading this Collegiate Choice, please do not contact me again. I do not wish to discuss this further. I had and have no reason to believe that Blaineko was not being honest about his problems in ordering from you. </p>

<p>I do want to add, however, that after looking at their order form for probably the 5th or 6th time, I did finally find their email address on it. I could have sworn I never saw it before so it is probable that others have had the same problem. But I was wrong about it not being there === just wanted to correct that.</p>

<p>Like others who read this board, Collegiate Choice is free to address this issue by posting their comments directly to this board. </p>

<p>As Blaineko said, I am done with Collegiate Choice. This is the last post I will make on this subject.</p>

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<p>Carolyn:
Just amazing. Poor you! And you'd been perhaps the best advocate of Collegiate Choice. Wow!</p>

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<p>Sorry to hear that Carolyn. :(</p>

<p>I had to block email from them, especially after they emailed me to say that since my number was not in the phonebook, that I did not exist.</p>

<p>I'm done with Colligiate Choice. I'm very surprized that you got a message via Roger Dooley though.</p>

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<p>Blaineko:</p>

<p>This is hysterical! If you do no exist, why send you an e-mail?<br>
I'm beginning to think this is the stuff of comedy.</p>

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<p>Marite...</p>

<p>Probably to egg me on. Perhaps, a farsical?
:)</p>

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<p>blaineko:</p>

<p>My number is not in the phone book, either! :)</p>

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<p>marite: </p>

<p>:)</p>

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<p>I've been reading this discussion with some interest since we will not be able to visit many out-of-state colleges. Are there other companies that provide video tours besides Collegiate Choice? I assume some college web sites offer video tours. How similar might these be to the "official" walking tour? Thanks!</p>

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<p>We ordered the official videos from both Vanderbilt and Emory. They are free. My daughter and I both thought they were worthwhile. We spent some time freeze-framing aerial views in the Vandy DVD and looking at the campus map to get a sense of the campus layout. My daughter had not visited and I hadn't been there in decades. </p>

<p>Both videos were very slick and very professional, so they were a bit like watching a DVD viewbook.</p>

<p>Swarthmore has a DVD that they are about to mail to prospects. They apparently took a different approach. The film crew followed five students around campus to many of their normal activities over a three day period. I haven't seen it, so I don't know if it's any good or not. </p>

<p>I think that kind of approach has merit. The college selection process often occurs in a vacuum without much real knowlege of what college life is really like. Williams has two freshmen lecture classes available in streaming video on their website. I think that's a great idea.</p>

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<p>Check out <a href="http://www.videc.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.videc.com&lt;/a> - they offer videos and DVDs for some colleges</p>

<p>I will say that I have ordered several videos from Collegiate Choice without any problem, but I do find the situations described above very odd and unprofessional.</p>